Toronto Arts Council Board of Directors

Don Moffat, FRAIC, RCA, Past President is an architect and the Principal of Cannon Design. Academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. Former member of Hamilton Public Art Commission. Past chairman of Etobicoke Municipal Arts Commission. Former president of Etobicoke Community Foundation. Board member, Toronto Arts Council Foundation.

Jini Stolk, Vice-President is the Founding Executive Director of Creative Trust, Jini is an acknowledged leader in the arts and culture community with senior management experience in a range of producing and membership organizations. Previous positions include: Managing Director of Toronto Dance Theatre, Executive Director of Toronto Theatre Alliance, Associate Director of the Association of Canadian Publishers and General Manager of Open Studio. She continues her involvement in many community and cultural advocacy activities and is a director of the Centre for Social Innovation and a member of the Steering Committee of the Ontario Nonprofit Network. She previously served as President of Toronto Artscape and Artscape Non-Profit Homes Inc., Hum dansoundarts and Six Stages Theatre Festival.

Cindy Wan, Secretary is a lawyer and partner at McMillan LLP. Her focus of practice is securities, with emphasis on investment funds (public and private) and alternative investment products. Cindy writes and speaks in her field and has a list of publishing credits. She regularly provides advice on general corporate and regulatory matters, particularly in the area of privacy law and compliance.

Randal Levine, Treasurer is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of finance and management experience. Randy has held a variety of senior financial management positions and is currently the CFO of Vector Aerospace, a TSX listed company. He has experience in all aspects of treasury and finance. He has served on a number of Boards including not-for-profit and charitable organizations.

Councillor Ana Bailão is the City Councillor for Ward 18 - Davenport. Ana is proud to be a woman rooted in the rich cultural diversity of the Davenport area. Her commitment to New Canadians and community initiatives is a product of humble beginnings and the strong work ethic and support that she received during her early days in Canada. While working with many local community organizations, Ana Bailão also achieved success in the private sector including Finance and Healthcare IT. At the Bank of Montreal, Ana was a part of the transition team after the purchase of Bcpbank Canada, followed by a position to promote Multicultural outreach and improve relationships between business and community groups. Ana has been a dynamic and energetic voice for women, low-income families and New Canadians and continues to live in Ward 18, the same community that welcomed her when she arrived in Canada at the age of 15.

Curtis Barlow is Executive Director of the Fort York Foundation. Curtis Barlow has held leadership positions in the arts and government throughout his career. Prior to joining the Foundation, he was CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Past positions include Deputy Secretary (Policy, Program and Protocol) to the Governor General of Canada, Director of the International Arts Promotion program at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), CEO of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Cultural Counsellor in both London and Washington with DFAIT, and Executive Director of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.

Dallas Bergen is an active singer and choral conductor in Toronto. Founding Artistic Director of Univox Choir Toronto, a community choir for young adults, Dallas is also a professional singer with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canadian Chamber Choir, directs the Harbourfront Chorus and is music director at First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto. In 2011 he will be the founding director of the Regent Park School of Music’s satellite choir in Parkdale.

Nova Bhattacharya trained with some of bharatanatyam’s most esteemed teachers, including Menaka Thakkar, Kalanidhi Narayan and Kitappa Pillai. She toured with Menaka Thakkar & Company as a soloist and company member before embarking on an independent career. In 2008 she established Ipsita Nova Dance Projects; the company’s productions have been presented across Canada and in Germany and Japan. An impassioned advocate for dance, Bhattacharya is currently the Treasurer of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists (Ontario) and serves on the Advisory Committee of the South Asian Dance Alliance.

Janet Carding, Director and CEO at the Royal Ontario Museum, is the first woman appointed to this prestigious position. Ms. Carding is responsible for furthering the ROM’s mission, advocating for its ongoing public and private sector support, promoting its research, programs, and collections, and overseeing the management of the Museum’s operations, including exhibitions, programs, education, visitor services, administration and facilities management. Previously, Ms. Carding was the Assistant Director, Public Programs & Operations with the Australian Museum and Head of Planning and Development with the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI). She also taught the Museums and Galleries Administration segment of the University of Sydney's Museum Studies program. Ms. Carding obtained her degree from Cambridge University in History and Philosophy of Science and a Masters from the University of London in History of Science and Medicine.

Councillor Shelley Carroll is the City Councillor for Ward 33 - Don Valley East. First elected to City Council in 2003, she quickly established herself as one of Toronto City Council's brightest newcomers. She served as Chair of the Works Committee, dealing with Toronto's most pressing issues like garbage, recycling, water, sewers and roads. In 2006, Shelley became Toronto's Budget Chief, managing the City's $9.2 billion budget, and achieved $576 million in ongoing operating efficiencies over 4 years. As Budget Chief, Shelley was instrumental in Council recognizing the need to continue to work towards the previously approved Culture Plan cultural investment goal of $25 per capita. Shelley continues to be a strong advocate of the arts and culture organizations throughout Toronto.

Harold Chmara is an experienced financial executive with over 25 years experience in a public company environment. His most recent focus is tax technology, tax process improvement, risk and governance. He previously moved through a series of progressive roles at Deloitte’s Business Tax Consulting group, Hudson’s Bay Company, last as Vice-President Tax and Risk Management. His areas of expertise are tax technology solutions, financial reporting, strategic planning, risk and insurance, acquisitions and disposals, tax, and pensions. He has served on the boards of Tapestry New Opera, Hudson’s Bay Charitable Foundation, and served as Director of Hudson’s Bay History Foundation. Mr. Chmara is acknowledged for his successful leadership of multiple teams of professionals working with complex issues.

Councillor Gary Crawford is City Councillor for Ward 36, Scarborough Southwest. Gary Crawford brings a passion for the arts to his new role. He is a professional artist (landscape and portrait painter) with a BFA Honours Degree in Fine Arts from York University. Gary sits on a number of Boards in addition to Toronto Arts Council: St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Canadian Stage, Toronto Centre for the Arts, Scarborough Arts Council, the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery and the Scarborough Jazz and World Beat Festival. Gary is also a member of the Planning and Growth Committee and Vice Chair of the Scarborough Community Council. As Trustee for the Toronto District School Board from 2003-2010, Gary was instrumental in making the vast Art, Archive and Historical artifact collection more accessible to students.

Melanie Fernandez is Director of Community and Education Programs at Harbourfront Centre and Artistic Director of the summer festival season. She is responsible for community cultural development initiatives, the Artistic Direction of the World Routes multidisciplinary festival season, is the Artistic Producer of Planet IndigenUs international festival, life long learning programs and volunteer services. Past positions include Community Arts Officer at the Ontario Arts Council and Head of Education at the Art Gallery of Ontario. She taught a course in community arts at the Ontario College of Art and Design for its 5 inaurgral years and has written extensively in the areas of cultural diversity and cultural production, aboriginal cultural production and community arts. Melanie has served on numerous Boards and advisory committees including: Cultural Pluralism in the Arts (University of Toronto), Community Arts Ontario, A Space Gallery, Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre, the Canadian Commission of UNESCO, and Canada Council for the Arts Racial Equity Committee.

Councillor John Filion is City Councillor for Ward 23, Willowdale. City appointment to TAC Board of Directors. John Filion was first elected to political office in 1982 as a member of the North York Board of Education, on which he served for nine years, including four years (1987-1990) as chairman. Before his election to North York Council, Filion worked as a journalist and book editor. He was born in 1950, has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from York University. During his 25 years in municipal politics Councillor Filion is known for involving the community in government decision making. Among his many accomplishments; as a School Board Trustee he established child care in schools; as a North York Councillor he added new parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities; as a Toronto Councillor and Chair of the Board of Health he introduced a restaurant rating system and a ban on smoking in restaurants.

Councillor Mary Fragedakis is the City Councillor for Ward 29 - Toronto-Danforth. Mary brings extensive business expertise and strong community-building experience to her role as Councillor. Prior to her election, Mary served as Vice President of a business-to-business conference company. In 2008, her company was awarded Best Overall Performance for Small Business in Toronto. Mary's dedication to community services led her to co-found the Broadview Community Youth Group (BCYG) in 2007 to engage East York youth in activities to build self-confidence, self-worth and a strong sense of community. Mary has worked to break down barriers for people of all cultural and socio-economic backgrounds as an outreach community volunteer of the Royal Ontario Museum for 15 years. With her dedication to the arts, Mary participated in the first pilot project in Toronto to make many of Ontario's public museums and galleries more accessible to new Canadians.

Matt Galloway is the host of Metro Morning on CBC Radio 1, 99.1 FM in Toronto. He has been working at CBC Radio for more than 10 years. He has hosted CBC Radio programs The Current, Sounds Like Canada, Metro Morning, The Arts Today, Global Village, Music and Company, OnStage and many others. He also anchored CBC Radio's coverage of the 2010 World Cup of Soccer. In 2008, he hosted CBC Radio’s coverage of the Summer Olympics live from Beijing, mixing breaking sports results with insightful looks into the changing face of Chinese culture. Matt is a member of the Stop Community Food Centre Board of Directors.

Danis Goulet is a filmmaker and programmer Danis Goulet is the former Executive Director and Artistic Director of the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts festival in Toronto. She recently curated a special program for imagineNATIVE called The Embargo Collective that had its European premiere at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. As a filmmaker, her short films have screened at numerous festivals in Canada and around the world, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Cinematheque in Copenhagen, the Native American Film + Video Festival in New York, and the Message Sticks Film Festival at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Danis is a former Board Member for the Images Festival, and is a former programming committee member for the Worldwide Short Film Festival. Prior to joining imagineNATIVE, she worked in casting for feature films and television and at Nelvana, and with the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in events programming. Danis is Métis, from northern Saskatchewan.

Ruth Howard is an artist who creates large-scale arts and theatre projects with urban communities. She is the Artistic Director of Jumblies Theatre, a company she founded in 2001. Howard worked for many years as a professional theatre designer, as well as with various forms of popular and participatory arts and theatre. She designed community plays in Blyth, Ontario; Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan; Enderby, British Columbia; and Torbay, England and Manchester, England. Following the success of these projects, Howard founded Jumblies Theatre to support what had evolved as an approach of establishing multi-year residencies in urban communities leading to large-scale, participatory, performance pieces.

Moynan King is a director, writer, dramatug, actor, curator and performance artist. Moynan’s solo and collaborative performance pieces have been presented across Canada and the US. As an actor, Moynan has over forty professional film, theatre and TV credits and is a member of CAEA and ACTRA. She was dramaturg for the Toronto Women’s Caucus of the Playwrights Guild of Canada from 2001 to 2006 and Associate Artist at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre from 2004 to 2009. Moynan was the co-founder and director of Hysteria: A Festival of Women, for five years and was curator of the Rhubarb! Festival of New Plays from 2003 to 2005. She has been a guest lecturer at Guelph University, York University, Glendon College and the University of Wisconsin and recently completed her MA in Drama at University of Toronto.

Alice Klein is editor/CEO and co-founder/owner of NOW magazine, Alice combines a strikingly creative approach to problem solving with a hard-nosed and highly detailed financial appreciation of publishing. She credits her first generation immigrant roots for the ability to do a lot with very little that has been fundamental to NOW's success from the very beginning. Her lifelong passion for social change and her connection to the cultural vanguard are a result of early experiences. In 2006, she was named one of the 100 Graduates who shaped the Century by the University of Toronto Alumnae Association. Facing the challenges of being an employer and a mother of two has led Alice to broaden her passion for social change to include the exploration of inner peace. As a writer for the paper, she continues to draw on her experience in politics, business and psychology to focus on issues related to archetypal evolution and the global economy.

Natalie Lue is Director of Operations & Theatres for Toronto International Film Festival Group. As part of the senior management team, she contributes to the organizational development of TIFFG and participates in the design development and operational planning for their new building, the Bell Lightbox. Prior to joining TIFFG, Natalie was Director of Planning at Harbourfront Centre and played a leadership role in the development, management and implementation of long term strategic planning for major organizational and program initiatives.

Gregory Oh is a pianist with graduate degrees from both University of Toronto and University of Michigan. He is Artistic Director of new music ensemble Toca Loca, plays with The Lollipop People, teaches at the University of Toronto and performs with a wide variety of ensembles across Canada.

Devon Ostrom is an artist and community organizer. His exhibition record includes the highly acclaimed Streetscape programming for Luminato 2008 and Housepaint, Phase 2: Shelter at the ROM. His advocacy and community organizing accomplishments: founder of them.ca, Canada’s largest organization of street artists; visual arts director of Manifesto Community Projects; founder of BeautifulCity.ca, an alliance of over 60 organizations that lobbied the City of Toronto to tax billboards to generate revenue to support the arts. Devon is a member of the Toronto City Summit Alliance’s Emerging Leaders Network and he was selected as one of Ryerson Alumni’s 2009 Top 30 Under 30.

Colleen Smith is the Director of Operations at the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall. With a career that spans over 15 years and multiple provinces, she is a passionate arts advocate and practitioner committed to supporting the necessary cultural infrastructure that makes our country so vibrant. Prior to her current position, Colleen was Managing Director of Factory Theatre, leading the company to its strongest financial position in 40 years. Colleen has also served as a Director of Finance and Education at the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and was in a management role for the Royal Conservatory of Music's Learning Through the Arts program. She serves on a number of volunteer committees including those hosted by the Toronto Arts Council Foundation and The Entertainment District BIA, and has served as a member on a number of non-profit board of directors. A proud graduate of the Schulich School of Business MBA program in Arts and Cultural Management, Colleen also possess a Bachelor of Music as well as a Bachelor of Education.

Andrew Pyper Writer. Andrew received an MA in English literature from McGill University and a law degree from the University of Toronto. Although called to the bar in 1996, he has never practiced. Andrew Pyper’s work has been published internationally. Lost Girls (1999) won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was a national bestseller in Canada and a Notable Book selection in both the Globe and Mail and The New York Times Book Review. The Trade Mission (2002) was selected by the Toronto Star as one of the Ten Best Books of the Year. The Wildfire Season (2005) was a Best Books of the Year selection by the Globe and Mail. The Killing Circle (2008) was selected as one of the notable crime novels of 2008 by The New York Times. His most recent book, The Guardians, published by Doubleday earlier this month, is already in its second printing and is a national bestseller.

Priscila Uppal, Ph.D. is a poet, writer and York University professor (Department of English and Faculty of Graduate Studies). Her 2006 poetry book Ontological Necessities was short-listed for the Griffin Prize for Excellence in Poetry, one of the largest and most prestigious poetry prizes in the world. Some of her published works include: Successful Tragedies: Selected Poems 1998-2010 (Bloodaxe Books, United Kingdom, Forthcoming), To Whom It May Concern: A Novel (Doubleday Canada, forthcoming in 2009), Holocaust Dreams (2005), The Divine Economy of Salvation, novel (Doubleday Canada, 2002), Pretending to Die, poetry (Exile Editions Canada, 2001, short-listed for ReLit Award), Confessions of a Fertility Expert, poetry (Exile Editions Canada, 1999).

John Van Burek is founder and Artistic Director of Pleiades Theatre, John Van Burek has been a professional theatre artist for thirty-five years. He has directed over 100 plays, workshops, operas and special events and translated over 40. He was the founding Artistic Director of Théâtre français de Toronto, which he ran for close to twenty years. Through his translations, often in partnership with the late Bill Glassco, he introduced the work of Michel Tremblay, one of Canada’s preeminent playwrights, to the English-speaking world. In addition, he has translated works by Gratien Gélinas, Goldoni, Suzanne Lebeau, Marivaux and Molière. He is currently working on a translation of Albert Camus’ Les Justes. He has received many awards and distinctions, including the Toronto Drama Bench Award for Distinguished Contribution to Canadian Theatre, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and most recently, he was given the prestigious Silver Ticket Award by the Toronto Association of Performing Arts.

Jessica Wyman is a writer, curator, and art historian. Jessica Wyman teaches in the Faculty of Liberal Studies, Ontario College of Art and Design. She has worked with artist-run organizations YYZ Artists’ Outlet and Fuse magazine, with Active 18 Association, and has curated numerous exhibitions for commercial and artist-run galleries. Her writing about contemporary art, and most recently about art history and performativity, has appeared in magazines and journals across North America and in Europe, and her three-volume edited book, Pro Forma: language/text/visual art was published in fall 2007. Wyman received the 2004 Untitled Art Awards Emerging Curator Award and was shortlisted that year in the category of Best Art Writing.

Arts Advisory Panel

Margaret Atwood ● Atom Egoyan ● Mallory Gilbert ● Norman Jewison ● Molly Johnson ● Karen Kain ● David Mirvish ● Sam Sniderman ● Joyce Zemans